1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to commodity products and more particularly to plans for distributing the commodity products to auction sites such that the total net profit can be maximized.
2. Related Art
Billions of dollars are spent each year on retail sales and leases of various commodity products. Commodity products include a full range of merchandise such as computers, medical equipment, and automotive vehicles for example. In many cases, commodity products are initially leased. At the end of the lease term, the lessee has the option of purchasing the commodity product or returning it to the lessor. The numerous products coming off-lease have created a whole new industry rallied around the concept of remarketing. In its broadest terms, remarketing refers to the placement of previously used, sold, or leased commodity products back into the retail market. Before a commodity product finds itself offered for sale in the retail market, it often passes through a wholesale market. Auctions are a popular means for getting a commodity product back into the retail market. For example, at many auctions, off-lease vehicles are sold at wholesale prices to retail auto dealers. In turn, these retail auto dealers remarket the vehicles to retail customers. However, the place where a particular commodity product is presently located is not necessarily where it will be sold at retail. Accordingly, one key issue to the remarketing industry is commodity product distribution. More particularly, a need exists for generating plans to distribute commodity products in a manner designed to maximize profits.